Knee for milling machines



oct. 7. 1924. 1,510,565

G. D. SUNDSTRAND KNEE FOR MILLING MACHINES Filed aan. 1o, 1,919 Va sheets-snaai.' 1

Oct. 7 1924. 1,510,565

G. D. suNDs-rRAND KNEE FOR MILLING MACHINES Filed dan. 10 1919 3 Shees-Sheet 2 [mW/ff vwg.

' Oct. 7 G. D. SUNDSTRAND KNEE FCR MILLING MACHINES '3 Sheets-Sheot 3 Filed Jan. 10 19,19

Patented Get. 7, 1924.

'rs x VOFFC'E.'

GUSTAF DAVID SUNLDSTRANI), OIF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO ROCKFORD MILLING MACHINE COMPANY, OF RO'CKFOILD, ILLINOIS, A IGORI-TO'RAFION OF ILLINOIS.

KNEE FOR MILLING MACHINES.

Application filed January l0, 1919. Serial No. 270,510.

To all whom it may cof/warn.'

Be it known that I, GUsTAF DAVID SUND- srnnND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rockford, in the county of Winne- 6 hago and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knees for Milling Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention, generally stated, is to provide improved means for controlling the adjustment of the knee by power and for controlling the power feed of the saddle.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan view of a knee embodying the features of my invention, a portion of the milling machine column being shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a vsectional view taken in the plane of dotted line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is la sectional view taken in the plane of dotted line 3-3 of Fig. 7. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the knee. Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 2'. Fig. 6 is a view taken in the plane of dotted line (3 6 of Fig 7. Fig. 7 is a fragmental front end elevation of the knee. Fig. 8 is a View taken in the plane of dottedV line 8-8 of Fig. 1. l

In the drawings, 1 represents a portion of the milling machine column. 2 is the ordinary vertical guide on the front wall of the column. The knee 3 is provided at its rear side with means to slidably engage the guide 2 in the usual manner.

The means for raising and lowering the knee 3 comprises a screw 4, the lower lportion of which engages a nut (not shown) in the usual manner. To the upper portion of the screw is secured a kbevel gear wheel 5 3) that meshes with a bevel pinion 6 which is mounted upon a shaft 7 in the knee. Rigid with the bevel pinion 6 is a spur gear wheel 8 that meshes with a similar'gear wheel 9. The gear. wheel 9 is rigid with a hub or sleeve 10 which is' rotatably mounted upon a shaft 11 carried by the knee. Fixed upon the shaft 11 is a spur gear wheel 12 which meshes with a pinion 13 (Fig/1) formed upon a sleeve 14 (Fig. 6) which is rotatably mounted upon a shaft 15 supported in the knee. To the shaft 15 is rigidly secured a spur gear wheel 16 which meshes with an intermediate pinion 17 (Fig. 8). The pinion-17 meshes with a gear wheel 18 mounted on a shaft 19 carried bythe knee. The gear wheel 18 meshes with an intermediate gear 20 (Fig. 8) which in turn meshes withI a pinion 21 rotatably mounted on a shaft 22 supported by the knee. The shaft 22 is driven in any suitable way, as by means of the usual eXtensible shaft (not shown). `1 A reversing mechanism 23 (Fig. 1) of commonV form transmits power fromthe shaft 22 tothe pinion 21.

Thev means for communicating power fromthe shaft 15 to the pinion 13 comprises a clutch sleeve 24 (Fig. 6)v mounted for sliding movement upon saidy shaft, but connected to rotate with the shaft by means of a spline 25. The adjacent ends of the sleeves 14 and 24 are provided with clutch faces. The clutch formed by the parts 14 and 2 4 will be hereinafter referred to as thev primary clutch. In the sleeve 24 is an annular peripheral groove y26 to receive a stud 27 (Fig. 2) upon an arm 28, said Aarm beingfxed to a transverse rock shaft 29 -carried by the knee. Fixed to the shaft 29'is an arm 30 (Fig. 5) having a pin 31 that lies in a notch in a tripping pin 32. The tripping pin132 is mounted for vertical sliding movement in the knee. An arm 33 is connected to the tripping pin 32 by means of a. pin 34 lying in' a notch in the tripping pin. Thev ar-m 33 is rigid with a hand-lever 35 which is rotatably mounted upon a rockshaft 36 carried by the knee. Rioid with the lever 35 and arm 33 is an arm which has a pin and notch connection with a tripping rod 38, said tripping rod being mounted in theI knee for vhorizontal `movement. The rear end'of the'tripping rod 38 is arranged to. engage suitable trip-ping devices, such lforr example', as the device 39'(Fig. 1) on the column 1. The devices 39 are located in position to limit the movement of the knee by` causing longitudinal` movement of the tripping rod 38 and consequently movement of the clutch sleeve 24 out of engagement with the clutch sleeve 14. It will be see-n that'disengagement of the'sleeve 24 from the sleeve 14 will interrupt the transmissionof power to the feed screwl 4. The' movement of the knee may be started and stop-pcd at will by means of the hand-lever 35. The direction of movement of the knee may be reversed by operating the reverse mechanism 23 in the well known manner.

The means for connecting the pinion 9 (Fig. 3) to the shaft 11 at will comprises a. secondary clutch sleeve 40 which is slidable longitudinally of said shaft but is arranged to rotate therewith by means of a spline 4l. One end of the sleeve 40 is; provided with a clutch face to engage a clutch face on the adjacent end of the sleeve l0. The rock shaft 36 (Fig. carries a crank arm 42 having a pin 43 that lies within an annular groove 44 (Fig. in the sleeve 40. Rigid with the outer end of the rock-shaft 36 is a crank 45 by means of which the shaft 36 may be rocked to move the sleeve 40 inte and out or' clutch engagement with the sleeve 10.

The saddle 46 is slidably mounted upon the knee 3 for horizontal movement toward and away from the column i, the saddle being mounted upon a guide 47 on the knee. rllhe saddle is arranged to be moved upon its guide 4T by means; including a nut 48 (Fig.

3) itixed in a lug 49 that projects downwardly from the saddle into a slot in the top of the knee. The nut 48 engages a screw 5l having a squared forward end to receive a crank (not shown) by means or which the saddle may be manually adjusted. llfhe `power means for rotating the screw 51 comprises a pinion 52 iixed upon said screw and meshing with pinion which is loosely mounted upon the shaft ll. The pinion 53 is provided with hub or sleeve having a clutch face arranged ior engagement by a clutch face formed upon the adjacent end of the secondary clutch sleeve 40. lt will be seen that by means of the crank 45 the clutch sleeve 40 may be moved into position to drive the lniee-adjusting gear 9 or the saddle-feeding gear 53, and that Jthe clutch sleeve 40 may also be placed into the neutral position represented in F ig. ln F ig. 4 the crank 45 is shown in neutral position.

Means may be provided `for automatically throwing cut the saddle feed at any desired point. Herein are shown two liked projections 55 and 56 4) and an adjustable tripping block 57 upon the saddle, the tripping elements 55, and 5'? being located so that they may be carried into engagement with thel conical upper end or the tripping pin lt will be seen that when the tripping pin 32 is thus engaged, the shaft l29 will be rocked in the direction to throw out the primary clutch sleeve 24,'thus stopping the saddle. rhe screw 5l may then be manually rotated in the reverse direction to more the tripping element 56 or o?) clear of the pin after which the direction of the rotation or the pinion 2l may be rcversed by means of the mechanism 23, and the saddle 'feed thrown in by depressing the hand-lever 35.

Means may be provided for manually operating the screw 4 to raise or lower the knee as, for example, a shaft` 58 carried by the knee and having a bevel gear 59 that meshes with the bevel gear 5. The outer end oit shaft 58 is squared to receive a crank.

ln case the tool breaks or if, for any other reason, it is desired to stop the movement of the saddle, the hand-lever is raised, thereby throwing out the primary clutch. rll"he connections between the lever 35 and the primary clutch sleeve 24 are such that the primary clutch may be thrown in and out very promptly and rapidly.

T he primary clutch lever 35 Controls the transmission of power to the secondary clutch sleeve 40. The secondary clutchoperating crank 45 distributes the power or the clutch sleeve y to the knee-adjusting mechanism and the saddle-feeding mechanism. 'llius it will be evident that both the lever 35 and the crank 45 must be operated before the knee can be adjusted by power and before the saddle can be fed by power. Consequently, when the crank is in neutral position, there is no danger of the saddle-feed or the knee adjustment being accidentally. thrown in by inadvertent operation of the lever 35, as by reason of something falling on said lever.

rFhe hand lever 35 and the crank 45 are close together, and thus may be conveniently operated without a shifting of position oi the workman.

I would have it understood that the foregoing detailed description of one embodiment oil. my invention has been given for the sake or clearness of understanding and not for the purpose of limiting the invention, the scope of the invention being indicated in the appended claims.

ln certain of the claims I have used the term power element to denote broadly any source of power. In the present embodiment, theA pinion 21 may be considered as the source of power.

l claim as my invention:

l. A milling machine having, in combination, a knee, a saddle on the knee, a powerelement on the knee, knee-adjusting mechanism, saddle-feeding mechanism, a secondary clutch controlling the transmission of power to said mechanisms, a primary clutch controlling the transmission of power from the power-element to the secondary clutch, and separate manipulative devices for said clutches, said devices being mounted on the same side of the knee and close together.

2. ri milling` machine having, in combination, a knee, a saddle on the knee, knee-adjusting` mechanism, saddle-feeding mechanism, a secondary clutch element movable into driving engagement with either of said mechanisms alternately, and means for energizing said clutch element. i

3. A milling machine having, in combination, a knee, mechanism for raising and lowering the knee, a power element on the knee, and a power-transmission between the power element and said mechanism, said transmission including two. independentlyoperable clutches arranged in series.y the first clutch being adapted to deliver power to the second clutch and the second clutch being adapted to transmit power to either of two independent mechanisms.

4. A milling machine having, in combination, a power element, separate control means for moving the work on the machine in each of two directions at right angles to each other, a controlled transmission adapted to receive power from said power element and a second controlled transmission adapted to receive power from said first transmission and convey it to either (or neither) of said control means.

5. A milling machine having, in combination, a slidable knee and means for sliding said knee, a slidable saddle and means for sliding said saddle, a power element and connections adapted to slide either said knee or said saddle but not both` 6. A milling machine having, in combination, a knee, a power transmission from the knee, said transmission including two clutches arranged in series, the first clutch adapted to deliver power to the second clutch and the second clutch adapted to deliver power to either of twofindependent feeding mechanisms, each clutch comprising a movable element, two rock shafts mounted on the knee and extending beyond the side of the knee,.each shaft being connected to one of said elements, and means for independently rocking said shafts.

7. A milling machine having, in combination, a knee, a saddle on the knee, a shaft extending from front to rear of the knee, means for rotating the shaft, knee-adjusting mechanism including an element rotatable on said shaft, saddle-feeding mechanism including an element rotatable on the shaft, and a clutch member slidable on theshaft into driving engagement withfeither of said elements.

8. A milling machine having, in combination. a knee, a power element on one sid-e of the knee, a power transmission on the knee including two clutches. a casing o-n the other side of the knee and manually-controlled elements projecting from said casing for operating said clutches.

. 9. In a milling machine, in combination, a source of power, -a control clutch, a table, transmission froml said control clutch to said table for moving said table in either one of two mutually perpendicular directions, a shaft controlling said control clutch,

and safety means for limiting the .movement of saidftable, said safety means comprising two elements each slidablev at an angle to the direction of table motion over which it exerts control, and each connected to said control shaft.

i 10. A milling machine having, in combination, a knee, means forinoving said knee,l

a saddle on said knee, meansfor moving said saddle, power transmission to said moving means including a plurality of shafts ro-l tating at different speeds, a control clutch located in said knee on a shaft having a` vertically, a saddle on said knee, means for moving said saddle, a power transmission to said ,moving means including a pluralityv of shafts rotating at'different speeds, a control clutch located on a shaft havinga relatively high speed, and al single distributing clutch driven through said control clutch located on a shaft having a slower speed than the shaft carrying said control clutch, said distributing clutch being adapted to deliver power directly to said knee-moving means or to said saddle-moving means, but not to both.` n

12. ln a milling machine, in combination, a source of power, a control clutch, a column, a knee slidable onv said column, a saddle slidable horizontally on said knee, distributing transmission including clutch elements for moving'said knee and saddle by power receivedifrom saidcontiiol clntch', a control shaft carried-by said knee foi-controlling said controlx clutch, a vertically slidable element carried by said'knee adapted to contact with projections on said saddle and operatively connected v.to said` control shaft to prevent movement of said saddle past a predetermined limit in either" direction, and a horizont-allyv slidable 'element carried by said knee adapted to make contact with portions of said column and opera-- tively connected to said control shaft to limit the displacement of said knee in eitherdirection. l ,i

13. rlhe combination. recited in claim- 19. in which said vertically slidable element is directly connected to said control shaft, and said horizontally slidable element is con-- nected to said vertical element to actuafte said vertical.` element and thereby actuate said control shaft; y

14. The combination recited inf 4claim 13 in combination. with a control shaft for said naar.

distributing transmission, and in` which the connection between said horizontally slidable element and said vertically slidabile element includes a. pivote-o. connecting element, the control shaft for said distributing transmission serving as a pintle for said pivoted connecting element.

l5. A milling machine having, in combination, a column, a vertically slidable knee on said column, means for sliding said knee, a horizontally slidable saddle on said knee, means for sliding said saddle, a rotating shaft, a clutch adapted to connect said shaft directly to the means for sliding said knee or the means for sliding said saddle, a second shaft rotating at a higher speed than said iirstementicned shaft, and a control clutch on said secondementioned shaft adapted to deliver power to said first-mentioned shaft.

16. The combination recited in claim 15 in combination with automatic stops adapt ed to throw out said control clutch when said knee has been moved past a predetermined point.

17. rllhe combination recited in claim i5 in combination with automatic control stops adapted to throw out said control clutch when said saddle has been moved past a predetermined point.

18. The combination recited in claim l5 in combination with a single element operatively connected to said control clutch, and means for moving said element to disconnect said control clutch when either said knee or said saddle have been moved past predetermined points.

i9. A milling machine having, in combination, a reversing clutch adapted to receive power from a suitable source to drive a. transmission, shaft in either direction, a control shaft driven from said transmission shaft, a control clutch on said control shaft, adistribution shaft adapted to be driven by said control shaft at a slower rate of speed than that of said control shaft, and a distribution clutch on said distribution shaft adapted to selectively connect said shaft to various feeding mechanisms.

2()B A milling machine having, in combination, a reversing clutch adapted to receive power from a suitable source to drive a transmission shaft in either direction, a control shaft driven from said transmission shaft, a control clutch on said control shaft, a distribution shaft adapted to be driven by said control shaft at a slower' rate of speed than that of said control shaft, and a distribution clutch on said distribution shaft adapted to connect said shaft to either one of two independent feeding mechanisms, but not to both.

2l. A, milling machine having, in combination, a reversing clutch adapted to receive power from a suitable source to drive a transmission shaft in either direction, a

imanes control shaft driven from said transmission shaft, a control clutch on said control shaft, a distribution shaft adapted to be driven by said control shaft at a slower rate of speed than that of said control shaft, and a distribution clutch on said distribution shaft adapted to connect said shaft to an intermediate transmission shaft, ra work supporting element, a shaft operatively connected to said work supporting element to raise and lower the same, and an operative transmission` between said intermediate transmission shaft and the shaft connected to said work supporting element for rotating said last-mentioned shaft at a relatively low speedn i milling machine having, in combination, a knee, a vertical feed screw shaft adapted to raise and lower said knee, a horizontal shaft geared to said vertical feed sl t to rotate at a higher speed than said vertical feed shaft, a distribution shaft car ying a member geared to said horizontal shaft to rotate at a speed not lower than that of said horizontal shaft, a clutch adapted to connect said lastmentioned member with said distribution shaft, a control shaft rotating at a higher rate of speed than said distribution shaft, and a control clutch on said control shaft adapted to connect it to said distribution shaft.

Q3. rilhe combination recited in claim 22 in combination with a saddle slidable on said knee, and a second rotatable member on said distribution shaft operatively connected to said slidable saddle, said distribution clutch being adapted to connect either of said rotatable members to said distribution shaft.

24C. A milling machine having, in combination, a column, a knee slidable on said column, a saddle slidable on said knee, means for sliding said knee on said column yand means for sliding said saddle on said knee, a power transn'iission adapted to deliver power to either of said sliding means, butl not both, a control clutch in said transmission niechanism adapted to cut off the supply of power from said sliding means, and automatic stops on said column and on said saddle operatively connected through a single rock shaft to said control clutch for throwing out said control clutch.

25. A, milling machine having, in combination, a work table, two separate means for feeding said table in mutually perpendicular directions, a power transmission to said feeding means, said transmission in` cluding a lcontrol shaft, a clutch operated and associated with said control shaft to transmit power therefrom, a transmission shaft adapted to receive power from said clutch, a clutch on said ytransmission shaft adapted to deliver power to either of said feeding means, casing, control Shafts operatively connected to said clutches and er,-

llt)

tending into said casing, and means extending into said casing adapted to throw out said Control Clutch when either of said feeding means has operated to move the work support past a predetermined point.

26. In a milling machine, in combination, two parallel control shafts, a manual control element directly connected to one of said control shafts, and a control transmission for the other control shaft including' a rotatable element pivoted on said first mentioned control shaft.

27. In a device of the class described,

in combination, two parallel Control shafts, a casing receiving` one of said shafts centrallyv and the other shaft adjacent one edge of the casing, a manual control element mounted on the end of said central shaft and rotatable outside said casing over the face thereof, and a manual control element for the other shaft pivoted on the first shaft and projecting through the wall ofv said easing.

In testimony7 whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

GUSTAF DAVID i SUNDSTRAND. 

